I love you, and ten ways to say it
by Itsapon
Summary: A series of ten drabbles with ten different parings. Disclaimer and a  slightly  better summary inside. First: NejiSasu
1. Chapter 1

Hiya! well, this is gonna be a series off ten drabbles with random pairings of Naruto, I don't care really much about people don't liking the pairings ( for I don't like some myself anyway) and I've got most of the pairings already done ( well, in my head, I guess). Still I like to hear suggestions about what pairing you lot do like, and what kind of relation that would be...building critism is always welcome to, flames will just be caught and kept in my closet to warm me up when I'm cold...

**Disclaimer: I only say it once, though I don't think one of you would ever think I'm kishimoto: I in fact are NOT kishimoto, don't have a twin brother, don't happen to live in Japan and only can dream about being rich and owning certain Naruto characters ( mostly all of them). If I did, I think you would notice it...  
**  
_The first drabble is a NejiSasu pairing, 'cause it's one of my very favorites and I really find that there is too little Neji - Sasu love on fanfiction! yayz! _

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They didn't say it, never.

Not even when Naruto made a fool of Sasuke, saying he was such a scaredy cat, not daring to say it to his boyfriend, while _he_ managed to say it at least ten times a day to Sakura (she often didn't even notice, being to busy watching Sasuke and arguing with Ino).  
Sasuke would just growl at him, and point out how Sakura every time got annoyed when Naruto said that he loved her, and would hit him. Then Naruto would be pissed off, and a fight would start, mostly ending with Sasuke winning anyway.

Not even when Hinata would timidly nudge her fingers together and asked in a feeble voice why he didn't say it, just those three words.

Neji would just glare at her long enough to make her uncomfortable, and than sigh and say it didn't matter anyway.

Because it didn't.

Sasuke had a brother to kill - who had become already an ANBU captain at the age of thirteen - and maybe won't even survive it himself. And then, _íf_ he would survive he would have to choose a woman, to revive the old Uchiha clan.

Neji was the honour of his own clan, and great things were expected from him. He would lead the ANBU in many successful missions, and later probably marry his cousin to support her in the hard task of being the head of the family, and to refine the bloodline.

No, they hadn't a change together, it was never meant to be, and would never happen.

It was too dangerous to say it aloud, make it something real, for it would raise only hope that would be crushed sooner or later. It wasn't a good idea to tell anybody either, because they were both the best ninja of their age, and it would surely leak out to the hokage, or worse, to Hiashi, and a sever punishment would be inevitable, along with not being permitted to ever speak with the Uchiha boy again.

Only Hinata and Naruto knew about it anyway, Hinata because of her attentiveness to neji – and the fact she once caught the two boys kissing on the training grounds, when she herself had sneaked out of the mansion at 2 am to train. And Naruto…well, he had this great ability to piss off Sasuke to the point of finally telling him what's on his mind.

After that, he had kicked Naruto's ass that badly that his mate couldn't sit properly for days.

So nobody knew it, and when Sasuke went away to Orochimaru to get stronger, never to return again, Neji didn't cry like all couples did. He didn't even mention it, because, hey, wasn't it just what they already had expect? Their love would never blossom, or even exist, because one of them would die, or disappear anyway.

That, and the little round fan Neji found on his nightstand the evening before told him more things the raven boys ever had said to him.

They didn't say it,

they knew it.

"_I__ love you"_


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, I thought I had enough inspiration, but it seems it fled away as soon as I thought it...so if someone has any suggestions, it's welcome! More than welcome! Tell me what pairing you want, and I'll see if I can do something with it..

_This time the pairing would be Naruto and Sasuke, just because I like it how naruto devoted is to bring back a runaway idiot...enjoy_

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"Come back, teme"

When night falls, and his beloved pink- haired fiancée sleeps peacefully in their shared bed, Naruto leans against the cool glass of the window, repeating that sentence over and over in his head.

It has been more than six years since Naruto had seen his raven teammate last, and in that time he had trained hard, waking up early every morning before dawn, and staying up late until the moon rose up and everybody was asleep.  
He had gone to several S-rank missions by now, and was about to become Hokage. With all his efforts, he'd finally gain the respect and recognition he'd always graved for from the villagers, who no longer saw him as the Kyuubi monster who killed half of the village before, but as a strong and devoted ninja, loyal to his home and a strong leader.

Something Naruto ever dreamed about, but what wasn't his real motivation anymore.

Hell, motivation had gone since long, and it was all but a mask to everybody – including himself – to fool into believing Naruto did all those things he did for the village.

No, the real reason for him to go on long and tiring missions was not only to gain trust anymore, but just because he'd always hope to hear something about Orochimaru's hideouts. The only cause for him to train this hard was to being able to beat the hell out of Sasuke when he'd find him, and knock some sense in him.

It has been more than six years ago, when Naruto had tried to bring back the Uchiha prodigy – only to hear he was his best friend and afterwards being beaten totally shitless – and many things has happened by then.

A neighbouring village had attacked them, and somehow Konoha had won the short war, hearing afterward that it was Orochimaru's scheming that had the other village had invaded them. They searched around, but no sign of the Snake Sannin himself – or any of his followers.

Sakura had come to lean against Naruto for support when thinking about her runaway love was too much for her to bear, and eventually she began to forget about Sasuke, and accepted her blonde teammate more.  
After a year, Naruto had finally summoned enough courage to ask her out, and now – on their 18th – the pink haired Kuniochi was his fiancée.

The Hyuuga family had accepted Neji more, and Hinata had grown out to be a ninja after all. Still not as good as her cousin – who had managed to get in the ABNU squad – but she made an expert healer, with her warm hands and gentle eyes.

And, when chasing some weird Akatsuki with blonde hair – Deidera Naruto suspected his name was – Naruto had found the corps of one of the last sharingan bearers.

He had been delighted, for he was one hundred percent sure about who the murderer was, and that Sasuke would return now – he hadn't any reason to stay with that Snake freak anymore, right? Yet he began to worry about in which state he would find back his teammate, would he still be the same?  
That's a year ago now, and still no sign.

And although all those years, and after all that had passed, Naruto secretly still waits for his teammate to return.

Kakashi used to help him out a lot in his search for the raven boy, gathering information here and there about the Sound, and even the Akatsuki whereabouts.

When Kakashi himself got killed in the war between the two villages – dragged into an ambush and nailed down by more than ten ninja's – Naruto had volunteered to keep all Kakashi's belongings out of respect for the legendary Jounin and among the piles of research had found whole books of Sound and Akatsuki information.

Even now, Naruto thanks his former Sensei for it in silence every day.

But now, with Itachi killed – by his younger brother, which already was a fact in Naruto's mind – and a year passed since then, even the ever happy and optimistic blonde ninja began to lose hope.

On missions, he has lost will to ask anywhere around for some raven haired young man – Naruto vaguely wonders how Sasuke would look like now – with flaring red eyes.

When training, his blows are not the usual enthusiastic ones, nor do they hold his famous power and determination.

Why would he train anyway, now the only person he really wanted to beat was gone forever?  
But still, his old habit stays: of waking up every night from red eyed dreams, to look out of the window, and wait.

Sometimes he thought he sees something that looked like Sasuke, but it was just a crow most of the time, or a cat, or even just a shadow or imagination.

"Sasuke…" Naruto mutters softly, none to hear it.

"Come back, teme…"

**Fin**

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_please review_


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